Manchester Chosen as Preseason HCAC Baseball Favorite

GREENWOOD, IN - The Manchester University baseball team has been selected asthe favorite to claim the 2013 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conferencebaseball championship. The Spartans received 94 total points and sevenfirst place votes in the annual HCAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The poll collects votes from all ten head coaches in the HCAC. FranklinCollege received the second most votes in the poll and finished with 85total points and one first place vote. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technologyfinished third in the poll with 76 points and one first place vote and wasfollowed by Anderson University which claimed 75 points and the final firstplace vote. Hanover College (55 points), Transylvania University (54),Bluffton University (39), Earlham College (30), College of Mount St. Joseph(22), and Defiance College (20) rounded out the poll.

Manchester will be looking for its fourth HCAC baseball title as theSpartans enter the 2013 season. The black and gold will be striving for theschool's fourth straight HCAC Tournament appearance this spring. Manchesterfinished fourth during the 2012 season with a 14-11 conference mark,finishing four and a half games behind conference champion Rose-Hulman.Manchester was 28-21 overall and won the HCAC tournament with a 5-0 win overAnderson.

The Spartans return three All-HCAC first-team members from last season'steam, including the conference's Most Valuable Player. Senior shortstopCorey Marchant (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Dwenger) led the squad at the plate lastspring as a junior, batting .431 (44-for-102) in conference play with 30runs, 33 RBI, four doubles, one triple, and nine home runs. Junior thirdbaseman Jordan Nieman (Michigan City, Ind./H.S.) and senior Bryce Murphy(Ossian, Ind./Norwell) also earned first-team honors. Nieman led the teamwith 18 doubles and 51 RBI, while Murphy hit .325 with 38 RBI.

On the mound, Manchester will be led by All-HCAC selections Bryce Murphy andJustin Scott (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Snider). Murphy was 8-3 on the hill last yearwith a 3.79 earned run average. Scott led the rotation with 105.2 inningspitched with 60 strikeouts.

Franklin will be looking for the school's first baseball title since 2009this spring. The Grizzlies finished last season 18-7 in league play,finishing a half game behind Rose in the standings. FC went 1-2 in the HCACtournament last spring, falling to Anderson 5-1 in an elimination game.

Rose-Hulman is predicted to finish third and make a strong push for a secondconsecutive HCAC title. The Engineers won the conference with an 18-6league record, finishing the season 27-14 overall. Rose returns threeAll-HCAC first-team members from last season's title team. Junior secondbaseman Andrew Benitez (Mililani, Hawaii/H.S.), senior third baseman BobbyNewman (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), and sophomore pitcher Ben Menich (Mt.Prospect, Ill./Prospect) all return for a run at a league title. Benitezscored 31 runs with 28 RBI last fall, while Newman scored 33 runs with 11doubles and 26 RBI. Menich led the Rose rotation with a 6-1 record, postinga 2.98 earned run average.

The 2013 baseball season opens on February 22. The HCAC portion of theschedule will begin on March 22 with the HCAC Tournament slated for May9-11.